Golf club and manufacture of the same



July 11, 1933. w 066 H AL 1,917,774

GOLF CLUB AND MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME Filed Oct. 4, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 92 1- Q m Q 0 ID v A C 1) L O Q L w 11 L P1 E 0 a T H q- 3 Y lmren cor' c0 Leon/1.5 13072 =1 I Attorney July 11, 1933. w. 066 ET AL 1,917,774

GOLF CLUB AND MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME Filed Oct. 4, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnvencor llftlliam 0c]; BB zqfiorne July 11, 1933. w, QGG r AL 1,917,774

GOLF CLUB AND MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME Filed Oct. 4, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Leon A. SJEOT'Z Attorney Patented July 11, 1933 UNITED STATES WILLIAM OGG AND LEON A. STORZ, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS GOLF CLUB AND MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME Application filed October 4, 1932. 'Serial No. 636,198.

The present invention relates generally to golf clubs, or implements. The invention provides golf sticks "or clubs which, especially in the hands of inexpert users, will give better and more uniform results than the sticks or clubs now in ordinary use, as regards the distance and straightness of the balls flight after being struck; and the invenion resides not only in the construction of such improved clubs, but in the method and the apparatus employed in determining and obtaining such construction. Such apparatus per se is not claimed herein, but is made the subject matter of the claims of our divisional application Serial No. 672,070,

filed May 20, 1933.

The principles of our invention are applicable to all kinds of golf clubs, both the woods and the irons,and they apply with especial advantage to those irons that v are used primarily to produce a ball flight of considerable distance, for example, the mashie, the mid-iron and related clubs.

In the use of golf clubs of conventional form and weight distribution, and particularly such distance irons, only a relatively few highly skilled and very expert players can attain, with any degree of uniformity,

the results, as regards distance and direction.

of flight ofthe ball which the impact from a full swing of the club 'should produce; in the hands of all other players, most clubs are very uncertain implements, whose use occasionally produces a straight full-distance shot, but more frequently results in a ball flight that is oif-the-line and fading or We have ascertained, by means of the apparatus forming part of our invention, the underlying cause for the extreme difliculty encountered by most players in the use of conventional golf sticks or clubs, this being the fact that in all such clubs as heretofore constructed almost the entire area of the hitting face of the club is wholly in capable of and unsuited to the delivery of a truly effective impact orblow against the ball. We have found that in all golf clubs as heretofore constructed the truly effective impact area is limited to a small zone on the club face, almost immediately adjacent the heel of the club head; in consequence, any swing of such a club that causes the ball to be struck by any part of the club face area lying outwardly of this small spot at the exstant of impact, are able to mitigate these results that usually follow from hitting the ball inaccurately, i. e., with a point on the club face outwardly ,of the aforesaid small spot or zone adjacent the heel, but even in such cases the maximum flight or carry is rarely attained; also, such use subjects the shaft to undue torsion.

Our invention, as hereinafter described, overcomes in large part these'difiiculties that attend the use of all golf clubs,by relocating and materially enlarging the zone of maximum hitting effect on the face of the club, so that a lesser degree of accuracy in hitting is demanded of the user and so that the penalties of inaccurate hitting are materially reduced. This is done, as hereinafter described, by a definite and very material redistribution of the weight of the club head,--the same however being preferably obtained while preserving substantially in said head the general form, configuration and apperance of the corresponding conventional club head, and without appreciably changing the total weight of the club. Other and further objects and advantages of our invention will appear from the following detailed description thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which 95 Fig. 1 is a plan view of certain balancing apparatus illustrative of the method by which the principles of our invention may be applied to the procurement of proper weight distribution, both for clubs in process'of mann ufacture and for existing golf clubs.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 1s a sectional view on the line 33 m5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary large scale sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic face view of a golf club of conventional form, showing the 110 ting effect.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, illustrative of the relocation and enlargement of said zone, in accordance with the principles of our invention.

Fig. 7 is a rear view of the club head shown in Fig. 6, after correction of its weight distribution.

Fig. 8 is a rear View similar to Fi 7, showin a slightly different form of welght redistri ution.

Fig. 9 is a' section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a View similar to Fig. 6, showing the applicationof our invention to a broadfaced iron.

Figs. 11 and 12 are views showing the application of our invention to a woo en clu Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures. j

In all golf clubs of conventional construction now in ordinary use, as exemplified by the distance iron shown in Fig. 5, the zone or spot of maximum hitting effect on the club face 1 is located, as heretofore pointed 'out, very close to the heel portion 2, at which the club head provides the usual hosel 0r socket 3 for the attachment of its shaft 4. This is a fact which can be tested and proved by balancing such a club, according to the principles of our invention, for substantial equalization of the turning moments effective thereon, as by suitably positioning and manipulating said club in apparatus such as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Referring to those figures, the numeral 5 indicates an elongated horizontally-supported base, at one end of which is provided a pivoted platform 6 to receive and support the club head, while at the otherend of which is provided a longitudinally adjustable mounting 7, to receive and SiIPbPOIt the grip portion 8 of the shaft of a c u As shown in Fig. 3, the base 5 rovides bee.

neath the platform 6 an elongate knife edge 9, the latter constituting a central support .transverse to the platform, on which said platform delicately balanced. The surface of the platform whereon is received, hitting face downward, the head of the golf club being tested, as shown in Fig. 1, is preferably coated, as shown at 10, with any suitable plastic or like sticky or tacky compound, whose function is to prevent any accidental sliding or slipping of the club head on said platform during the balancing operation. The mounting 7 as shown in Fig. 4, may take the form of a block with its under face grooved to make a snug sliding fit on the base-5, said block providing a set screw 11 by which to fix it in any desired position of longitudinal adjustments, relative to said base. The block 7 provides for the swivelled mounting thereon, about a vertical axis, of a member 12, as by means of an anti-friction bearing 13, and in said member 12 is mounted a ball bearing 14, whose center is cut by a line drawn through the elongated apex of knife edge 9. The inner race of ball bearing 14 is of a diameter to receive loosely therein the grip portion 8 of-the golf club whose head rests on the platform 6, and in the use of the apparatus, the

block or mountin 7 is adjusted on the base 5,

\ toward or from t e platform 6, so as to suptain its center in the axial line of the knife edge 9.

Any golf club so positioned and supported in the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is free to tip one way or the other about such axial line cc, Fig. 1, which arallels the center line of the base 5; by slig tly shifting the club head toward one side or the other of the platform 6, the latter can ultimately be brought to a condition of horizontal balance, and when such is accomplished, an ordinary or conventional club will be approximately in the position indicated by Fig. 1, with its shaft axis at a slight angle to said axial line 0c, so that said line, or its projection, crosses the club head obliquely, very close to the heel portion 2 thereof. The relation of this axis to the hitting face 1 of an iron club of conventional form and weight distribution is shown by the line 00 in Fi 5, which intersects the sole' 15 of the club head only a very short distance outwardly from the inner extremity thereof. It follows that the spot or zone of maximum hitting effect on the face of such a club is of relatively small area,being confined as a practical matter to that portion of the club face appreciably above the sole 15 and appreciably below the edge 16 that immediately adjoins the line 0'c in Fig. 5, on the left or outer side of said line. No appreciable addition to the area of this small spot or zone can be developed'on the inner or hosel side of line c'c, because that side is almost entirely occupied by the concave surface that forms the juncture of the club face with the heel portion of the head; a user of the club would sedulously avoid any striking of the ball with such a curved surface. In fact, in the use of the conventional club shown in Fig. 5, the average golfers efforts would naturally, as a matter of course, be directed to the procurement of impact on the ball by a spot on the club face such as A, lying about midway the length of the sole 15 and appreciably spaced from the lower edge of said face. And no matter how well executed the swing might be in this instance, the result of such impact at or near the point A will inring or loop so suspended or hung as to main- I the leverage of said force being t evitably, as heretofore described, produce a powerful force tending to throw the club face out of its intended strikingl position, e per en dicular distance of the impact point A rom the line o'0'. The result, a sliced or otherwise spoiled shot, is due entirely to defective design and improper distribution of weight in the club head.

' Referring now to Fig. 6, which shows the same club face as Fig. 5, we have indicated on the club face a theoretically ideal point of impact A on the perpendicular bi-sector a.a of the sole or bottom edge 15. When such club is positioned and supported in the ap paratus shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that the point A is directly over the axial line 0-0 of the apparatus, the latter supports the club with a considerably larger angle thanpreviously between the sha t axis and'the axial line 0-0; under these conditions, assuming the club of Fig. 6 to have the same "weight distribution as the club of Fig. 5, the apparatus will be wholly out of balance; the turning moments produced by the masses lying to the right or inwardly of the line 00, Fig. 6, being considerably in excess of those produced by the masses on the other side of said line. With the club still resting in said apparatus in the displaced position indicated by Fig. 6, the restoration of said apparatus to a condition of balance requires the addition of a certain amount of weight to the outer or toe portion of the club head, to equalize the turning moments. By so adding weight, until balance is substantially restored, we obtain a very close approximation of the proper distribution of wei ht in the head of the club which will give t at implement its maximum effectiveness when impact with the ball is efi'ected at or near the point on its face.

Assuming that weight be added to the toe ortion of the club head in sufiicient amount to restore the balance of the apparatus, (such addition being either in the. manner shown at 17 on Fig. 7, or in any other desired manner), then it follows that there occurs a substantial equalization of the turning moments that are effective about the axis corresponding to the line 0''-0' of Fig. 6. This signifies not only a more advantageous and useful location on the club face of the spot or zone of maximum hitting effect (shifting said spot or zone outwardly to approximately the central portion of the club face), but it also signifies the very material enlargement of said spot or zone, because this zone in Fig. 6 includesportions of the club face on both sides of the line c0','whereas in Fig. 5, its area, as a practical matter, was confined to one side only {the outer side) of the line 00. Furthermore, any impact with the ball by apoint on the club face outside of'this spot or zone,

such as point B in Fig. 6, will have relatively little tendency to deflect the club head, because its leverage or distance from the line 5-0 is relatively small,whereas impact at a corresponding point B on the face of the club head shown in Fig. 5 will invariably result in very marked deflection, becausein this instance the leverage or distance from the line C'(:' is much greater.

The redistribution of club head weight, which is indicated by the practice of our invention, ma if desired, be obtained by a gradual thic ening of the section of the blade, outwardly toward the toe from the central portion thereof, as shown at 17ain Figs. 8

and 9,accompanied or not as desiredbysome diminution of weight on the other side of the line c'c' as by lightening, or removing material from, the heel portion 2 or the adjacent hosel or socket portion of the club head, for example as shown by the reduced and shortened hosel 3' of Fig. 8. In this.

way the desired'redistribution of weight can be obtained Without appreciably changing the total weight of the club, the weight being taken from the hosel and transferred to the toe portion of the club head. To get the same extreme outer toe portion of the club head,

to give it the maximum leverage relative to the center A of the spot or zone of maximum hitting effect, and thus to reduce to a minimum the amount by whichthe weight of the club is increased. Instead of concentrat- 'in all the added weight on a small area,

thereby unduly thickening the blade section at one spot, it is preferable to elongate and flatten the same, substantially as shown at 17 in Fig. 7, and .under these conditions we have determined by experiment that the most favorable disposal of the elongated mass is obtained when its longitudinal center line ,H is substantially parallel to the line c-c' which corresponds to the imaginary axis about which the turning moments are equalized.

In the use of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2, suitable provision may be made for. accurately marking on the surface of a club head on the platform 6, the line which corresponds to the axis about which the turning moments are in balance, anddrom which, by projection onto the face of the club, is obtained the lines 0 -0 of Figs. 5 and 6. To this end, the base 5, adj acentthe platform 6, supports an upright standard 18, from which projects a horizontal bar 19 overhanging the platform 6. Slidably mounted on the bar 19,

quires tional blade section,

to move in a path paralleling the axial lino 0c of'the apparatus is a member 20 in which is vertically slidable a rod 21, carrying at its lower end a scribing point or other suitable marking device 22. The latter, as the member 20 is slid back and forth on the bar 19, is constrained to a path that is always alined with the knife edge 9, andhence serves to trace or mark on the club head surface a line which, in the balanced condition of the apparatus, corresponds to the line 00' of the several figures.

In the use of any club whose construction and weight distribution is based on the principles of our invention, the penalties exacted by inaccurate hitting of the ball are very materially reduced by comparison with the clubs of conventional design. That is to say, the location of the spot or zone of maximum hitting effect at subsantially the center of the club face reduces to a minimum on either side of said spot the leverage obtainable by the most inaccurate hit that it is possible to make,whereas in the use of an ordinary club, a very inaccurate hit may involve a leverage several times as great. Fig. 10 illus-' trates the application of the principles of our inventon to a broader-faced club, such as a niblic or mashie niblic, wherein the face is sloped back to give height rather than dis tance to the flight of the ball. In a set of graded iron clubs, whose breadth and backward slope of face increase progressively, such increase in each instance moves the theoretically ideal point of impact upwardly on the club face, away from the sole or lower edge of the club head, and to give effect to this principle in the club of Fig. 10, the relocated axis c"0, about whichthe turning moments are substantially equalized, is made to pass through a point A substantially'in the middle of the width of the club face. This in turn requires a somewhat different location for the application, of the added weight required in order to establish a substantial balance of the turning moments effective about the axis cc',such weight, as indicated at 17 in Fig. 10, being farther removed from the sole of the club than the weight 17 of Fig. 7. Except at the outer or toe portion of the club head, where there is a slight thickening of the material as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 10, our invention reno change in the cross section of the conventional iron club blade,such convenof substantially triangular or thin wedge form, increasing in height progressively as the section is taken farther away from the heel, being otherwise preserved in its entirety.

Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate the application of the principles of our invention to a wooden club, such as a driver or brassie. It it the common practice to increase the weight of the wooden head of such a club by the use of.

an insert of metal, usually lead, located at the rear of the head, directly behind the hitting face 23. Such an expedient however cannot either relocate or enlarge on said hitting face, the spot or zone of maximum hitting effect, which, in wooden clubs of conventional design, as well as any conventional iron clubs as heretofore described, is invariably immediately adjacent the heel or inner portion of the club head. Proceedin with a wooden club according to the metho of our invention, so as to equalize the turning moments about a newly-located axis c'0 cutting the face 23 at a substantially central portion, and also giving effect to the fact that in a wooden club, (unlike an iron club) the hittingface is disposed well forward or in advance of the axis yg of the clubs shaft, it is found that the weight required to balance turning moments about axis c'0 can best be applied substantially at the outer edge of the top surface of the club head, as shown at 24, and approximately on the line 2'r2 that is in the transverse plane containing the shaft axis y-y. Such redistribution of club head weight gives to a wooden club the same advantages, as regards distance and direction in the flight of the ball, as are given by our invention to the irontclubs of Figs. 6, 7 and 8.

e claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a golf club comprising a shaft and a head, the latter having the weight of its material permanently so distributed as to substantially equalize the turning moments of the masses of head and shaft materials about an' axis extending from the approximate center of the grip portion of said shaft and crossing a spot or zone of the hitting face of the head that lies appreciably above the lower edge or sole and approximately centrally of the length of said face.

2. A golf club or implement comprising a shaft and a head, said head being of solid substantially unrecessed form and being characterized by such a distribution of the weight of its material that an imaginary axis which crosses the grip portion of the shaft, and about which the turning moments of the masses of club material equalized, also crosses a central portion of the hitting face of said head.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a golf iron having a blade of thickened section at the outer or toe portion thereof, to obtain a weight distribution that substantially equalizes the turning moments of the masses of the club material about an imaginary axis that crosses the grip portion of the club shaft and also crosses the head at a central portion of the club face.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a golf club of the variety known as a wooden club, and whose head at the outer upper porare substantially tion thereof carries a metallic insert of sufficient weight to substantially equalize the turning moments of the masses of the club material about an imaginary axis which crosses the shaft axis at the grip portion 0 said shaft and also crosses the club head at a substantially central portion of the hitting face of said head.

. 5. As a new article of manufacture, a golf iron having a blade of thickened section at the outer or toe portion thereof, to obtain a weight distribution that substantially equalizes the turning moments of the masses of the club material about an imaginary axis passing across the grip portion of the club shaft and across the club head at a central portion of the club face, said thickened portion being elongated to lie substantially parallel to said axis.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a golf club or implement comprising a shaft and a head, the latter having its weight so distrib' uted as to substantially equalize the turning moments of the masses of the club material about an imaginary axis which crosses the shaft axis at the grip portion of said shaft, and which diverges from said shaft axis at a sufficient angle to cross the sole or lower edge of said head at a point appreciably outward of the mid-point of said. sole, whereby said heads spot or zone of maximum hitting effect above said sole and along said imaginary axis is disposed substantially perpendicularly above the mid-point of said sole.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a golfing iron comprising a shaft and a head, said head providing a blade portion and a socket or hosel portion, the latter serving for the attachment of said head to said shaft, said blade portion having its section thickened and increased in weight at the outer or toe portion thereof, and said hosel portion being commensurately lightened, thereby to obtain a weight distribution in said head that causes the turning moments of the masses of head and shaft materials in the club to be substantially equalized about an imaginary axis crossing the grip portion of the shaft and crossing said head obliquely, in a substantially central zone of the latters hitting face.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a

golfing iron comprising a shaft and a head,

the latter providing a blade conventionally Wider at the toe than at the heel and of the conventional thin wedge cross section throughout, except for an increase in the thickness of the blade material on the rear side of said blade, and outwardly of the center of its hitting area, thereby to obtain such a distribution of the club head weight as to substantially equalize the turning moments of the masses of club material about an imaginary axis which crosses the grip portion of f a blade and a serve for the attachment of said head to a' the shaft and which also crosses a central portion of the hitting face of said head.

9. As a new article of manufacture, a head for an iron golf club, said head providing.

hosel, the latter adapted to club shaft, said blade having a hitting face that grows broader, conventionally, from its heel portion toward its toe portion and being of the conventional thin wedge cross section throughout, except for a thickening of the material. at the toe ortion on the side opposite to said hitting so proportioned as to provide a head of approximately normal weight, but in which the weight distribution is such that, when a shaft is attached to said hosel, the turning moments of the masses of head and shaft materials are substantially equalized about an imaginary axis crossing the grip portion of said shaft and a central portion of the hitting face of said head.

10. A golf club of the wood variety, comprising a shaft and an attached wood head of conventional material and form, said head being weighted by a metallic insert positioned in the outer upper portion of the heads body, substantially opposite to the intersection with said body of the axis of said shaft, said insert being of sufficient weight to substantially equalize the turning moments of shaft and head materials about an imaginary axis which crosses the shaft axis at the grip portion of said shaft and also crosses the club tral portion of the hitting face of said head.

11. In the manufacture of a golf club', the improvement which consists in so supporting'the club as to give effect to turning moments, produced by the masses of the club materials about an axis that crosses the grip portion of the shaft and that also crosses the club head at a substantiallycentral portion of the latters hitting face, and so distributing' the weight of material of the club head as to cause said turning moments about said axis to be substantially equalized.

12. In the manufacture of golf clubs, the improvement which consists in supporting an assembled club head and shaft so as to give effect to turning moments of the masses of head and shaft materials about an axis that crosses the grip portion ofthe shaft, and that also crosses the club head at a substantially central portion of the latters hitting face, removing weight fromthe hosel portion of said head, and adding weight in sufficient amount to the toe portion of said head to cause said turning moments about said axis to be substantially equalized.

LEON A. STORZ. 7

head at a substantially cenace, and said hosel belng 

